Three-Piece Grip Safety

ABSTRACT

The present invention is an improved multiple piece grip safety for handguns. The safety comprises a fixed main body and two interfacing pivoting members, pivoting about the top and bottom of the grip respectively. The two interfacing pivoting members counteract each other to prevent accidental disengagement of the safety while also providing a more efficient purposeful disengagement.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO OTHER APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority on prior filed U.S. provisionalapplication No. 60/895,301, filed Mar. 16, 2007, and incorporates theprior Application herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of firearms and moreparticularly relates to a grip safety for handguns which is structuredin two pieces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The grip safety of a pistol is intended to prevent the pistol fromfiring until a proper firing grasp depresses it forward, pivoting on apin. This action pivots the body of the grip safety inward. An integralblocking arm, which protrudes forward from the grip safety's main bodyand into the interior of the pistol, pivots upward as the grip safety isdepressed inward. This upward motion of the arm removes it from the pathof the trigger bow, allowing the trigger to be pulled and thus thepistol to be fired.

The most common design for a grip safety is called a “beavertail,” shownin FIG. 1. The term beavertail is derived from the fact that the topportion of the grip safety 10 is wider and longer than the originaldesign, and somewhat resembles a beaver's tail. These have been incommon use for 25+ years, first as aftermarket parts custom fitted, thenas factory standard features. The advantage of the beavertail gripsafety is increased comfort afforded by the wider and longer topportion, which, when the pistol is held in a firing grasp, is situatedover the top of the web of the hand. The increased contact area tends todistribute the recoil from firing over a larger portion of the hand,reducing the perception of recoil.

It was soon realized that, while comfort was increased, the upwardpressure that the web of the hand exerted to the underside of thebeavertail directly opposed the forward pressure required to be appliedto the lower portion of the grip safety. The result was that manyshooters complained that full disengagement of the grip safety wasdifficult to obtain, resulting in the pistol not firing. The onlysolution offered has been the addition of a raised area at the bottom ofthe grip safety 15, to increase the likelihood of getting the gripsafety depressed enough to enable firing. This solution does work mostof the time for most shooters. Some shooters resort to taping or pinningthe grip safety into the depressed position to make sure. Other shootersfear this solution as a potential legal liability. The beavertail gripsafety as it exists, then, can be likened to a Bell crank—pressureforward on the lower portion is desirable and necessary. Pressure upwardon the underside of the beavertail portion is counterproductive butunavoidable

The inventor developed a solution to the above problem in the form of atwo-piece grip safety in 2004. FIG. 2 represents the original designfrom January of 2004. The solution is accomplished by making the gripsafety a two-piece unit, where the main body 20 no longer pivots. Onlythe right-hand side pivots, and no portion of this pivoting member 25extends above the pivot point 23; so, no pressure counter to therequired forward pressure can be exerted. The result is a more certainand consistent disengagement of the grip safety. Further improvementoccurred in January 2006 by making the bottom portion of the pivotingmember 25 somewhat wider. This design is, however, susceptible toaccidental disengagement as the pivoting member is free to pivot aboutthe pivot point 23 without hinderance.

The present invention is a still further improvement in the two-piecegrip safety design. In the present design, the lower portion is furtherenlarged to increase positive activation and it is structured in twopieces which interact cooperatively to disengage the safety. The presentinvention represents a departure from the prior art in that thetwo-piece grip safety of the present invention allows for an easierdisengagement of the safety while still insuring that such disengagementis purposeful.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types ofgrip safeties, this invention provides an improved two-piece gripsafety. To accomplish these objectives, the improved grip safetycomprises a fixedly attached body with a secondary pivoting member. Thepivoting member is connected to a blocking arm which protrudes into theweapon and blocks the trigger bow. Towards the bottom of the pivotingmember is a broad thick pressure plate to increase positive interactionbetween the pivoting member and a user's hand. The pivoting memberlikewise interacts with a tertiary pivoting lower member, which can biasthe secondary pivoting member in the disengaged position.

The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined inorder that the more detailed description that follows may be betterunderstood and in order that the present contribution to the art maybetter be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will bedescribed hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claimsthat follow.

Many objects of this invention will appear from the followingdescription and appended claims, reference being made to theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein likereference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, itis to be understood that the invention is not limited in its applicationto the details of construction and the arrangements of the componentsset forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings.The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced andcarried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that thephraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception,upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the present invention. It is important,therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentconstructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a prior art beavertail style grip safety.

FIG. 2 is a prior art two-piece grip safety.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial section view of the present invention, detailing theinteraction of the present invention and the firearm to which it ismounted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the drawings, the preferred embodiment of thetwo-piece grip safety is herein described. It should be noted that thearticles “a”, “an”, and “the”, as used in this specification, includeplural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the grip safety comprises a fixed mainbody 30, ideally of the beavertail style, and an adjacent pivotingmember 34 mounted upon an upper pivot point 32. Pivoting member isgenerally located on the right hand side of the main body 30, thoughappropriate configurations of weapons would allow a left hand sidemounting. Pivoting member 34 may also have an expended region or pad tofurther increase hand contact and depressive action. Extending into thefirearm from the pivoting member 34 is a blocking arm 35 which engagestrigger bow 40 and prevents firing of the weapon. Pivoting member alsointerfaces with pivoting base member 36 hinged on lower pivot point 38.These two members have a length sufficient to allow them to contact eachother and serve as mutual blocks to free motion. This causes the membersto have a slight outwards bowing effect. However, their length is notsufficient to prevent intentional depression and rotation. The actuallengths of these members will then vary depending upon the make andmodel of firearm and grip associated with said firearm. It will also bedependent upon the location of the pivot points for each member. Whendepressed by a user's hand, pivoting member 34 rotates slightly upward,thereby rotating blocking arm 35 correspondingly upwards to disengagefrom the trigger bow 40, allowing the weapon to be fired. Base member 36is also depressed in the action. Simply depressing base member 36 willalso depress pivoting member 34 due to their abutment and rotationalrelation, causing disengagement of the blocking arm 35. The result is amore efficient grip safety as it is easier to purposefully engage, whilelessening accidental engagement of pivoting member 34 and base member 36due to their counter-positioning at their joint.

Although the present invention has been described with reference topreferred embodiments, numerous modifications and variations can be madeand still the result will come within the scope of the invention. Nolimitation with respect to the specific embodiments disclosed herein isintended or should be inferred.

1. A grip safety for a handgun comprising: a. an upper pivoting member,extending in a generally downward direction and having a generallyperpendicular trigger block extending from a back side and pivotingabout a point near a top of a grip of the handgun; and b. a lowerpivoting member, pivoting about a bottom of the handgun grip, the upperand lower pivoting members interfacing in a manner to restrict but notprohibit free motion of the upper pivoting member; wherein the triggerblock engages and prevents motion of a trigger bow inside the handgunand depression of the upper pivoting member will cause rotation of saidmember about its pivot point and rotate the trigger block out ofengagement with the trigger bow.
 2. The grip safety of claim 1, furthercomprising a static member, fixedly attached to the grip of the handgunand adjacent at least the upper pivoting member.
 3. The grip safety ofclaim 2, the static member having a flared upper portion.
 4. The gripsafety of claim 1, the upper pivoting member having an expanded lowerpad adjacent to the interface of the upper and lower pivoting members.5. The grip safety of claim 4, further comprising a static member,fixedly attached to the grip of the handgun and adjacent at least theupper pivoting member.
 6. The grip safety of claim 5, the static memberhaving a flared upper portion.